Discover Georgian Culinary Life in the Royal Kitchens at Kew Palace

The Royal Kitchens, Kew Palace, Kew Botanic Gardens, Richmond

The Royal Kitchens at Kew were left undisturbed for years. Now you can go back in time to find out what life was like for the servants who worked in them and the dishes they prepared for the Royal family.

The Great Kitchen in the Royal Kitchens at Kew Credit: Forster HRP

Foodies visiting Kew Botanic Gardens during the summer months shouldn’t miss the opportunity to take a peek inside the Royal Kitchens. Opened in recent years and managed separately by the Royal Historic Palaces, they are included in the cost of your ticket along with entrance to Kew Palace. The kitchens are beautifully preserved. It’s not hard to imagine the chatter and noise of cooks and pastry chefs busy preparing meals for the Royal family and their entourage when they were in residence. If you’re lucky, you may see a cookery demonstration where dishes typical of the Georgian era are prepared in front of you.

The Foodie Travel Guide

Tour the Royal kitchens

Watch Georgian cookery demonstrations

Visit Kew Palace

Picnic by Queen Charlotte’s Cottage

Open during the summer months only

Explore Kew Botanic Gardens

Kew Gardens & Palace Entrance For Two

A Royal Kitchen Where Time Has Stood Still

The entrance to the Royal Kitchens at Kew Palace had been blocked up and left untouched since Queen Charlotte’s death in 1818. When it was opened up again a few years ago, it was discovered that time had literally stood still. The long wooden kitchen table used for preparing dishes was in place and the spit rests were hanging on the wall. The Great Kitchen was originally constructed to serve the White House, a grand mansion that once stood opposite Kew Palace. During the summer and at weekends, the Royal family would arrive bringing with them equipment sent up from London by barge. The kitchens would be opened up and dishes cooked using the produce grown in the large kitchen garden that was re-established for the BBC series Kew on a Plate.

Costumed Guide in Georgian dress

Royal Kitchens Cottage Garden

See What’s on The Menu

Walking up the garden path you’ll be see the smaller cottage kitchen garden before being greeted by a costumed guide. The guides happily answer questions about working life in the kitchens where servants all had to swear an oath of loyalty to the King. The Master Cook in 1789 was William Wybrow and the kitchen was entirely the domain of men including boys as young as eight. Step inside the Clerk’s Office and read the ornate handwritten entries in the giant ledger detailing each provision. There are expensive spices listed – mace, cinnamon, sage and coriander seeds and vermicelli and macaroni pasta which were all stored in jars in the dry larder. Another ledger records the menu of the day. Roast meat featured heavily including venison, beef and mutton but small birds such as blackbirds and larks were often served too.

Jars of Spices in the Dry Larder Credit: HRP

Entrance to the Great Kitchen : HRP

Experience the Great Kitchen on 6th February 1789

Downstairs there’s a scullery, bake house, wet larder, silver scullery and la pièce de résistance – the Great Kitchen with its high ceiling. The impressive centrepiece is the 12 foot long elm table that was built when the kitchen was first equipped in 1737. The spits in front of the enormous fireplace were once turned by the smoke jack and for gentler cooking, there is a range of charcoal stoves. Projected on the wall, you’ll see preparations for a meal served to the King and Queen on Friday 6th February 1789. This was the day that King George was given back his knife and fork after recovering from his first bout of illness (they had been taken away from him in case he harmed himself). Several dishes were served with each course. Among them savoury dishes of boiled perch, duck, roast chicken, rabbit, crayfish, omelette and partridge.

Georgian Cooking demonstration Credit: HRP

King George III’s tin bath Credit: HRP

A Tin Surprise in the Silver Scullery

In the silver scullery where the silver was once diligently polished and stored, there’s a humble tin bath. On the advice of his doctors, King George III would take regular baths. By having his bath in the kitchens, he spared his servants the chore of bringing the hot water to the Palace.

Picnic Like Royalty

Once you’ve finished your tour of the kitchens, follow in the footsteps of royalty by walking to Queen Charlotte’s Cottage in a quieter part of Kew Gardens. The cottage was built for George III’s wife as a picnic retreat and is open to visitors at weekends and on Bank Holidays during the summer months. Bring a picnic rug, a bottle of wine, a great spread and enjoy a relaxing summer’s day lunch on the lawn.

Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Credit: HRP

TIPS

Georgian cooking demonstrations are held on select dates throughout the summer so plan ahead if you want to see one